Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) Soundtrack by John Carpenter

(sorry for the lame slideshow, but we are focusing on the music here kids!)

I have had a sticker for this soundtrack on my guitar case for years and finally decided to see what all the fuss was about! WOAH!!! Here is what Wikipedia had to say:

One of the film's features is its score, composed and recorded by director John Carpenter. The combination of synthesizer hooks, electronic drones and drum machines set it apart from many other scores of the period and created a distinct style of minimalist electronic soundtrack for which Carpenter, and his films, would become associated. The score consists of two main themes: the main title theme, with its familiar synthesizer melody, and a slower more contemplative theme used in the film's more subdued scenes. Besides these two themes the soundtrack also features a series of ominous drones and primal drum patterns which often represented the anonymous gang gathering in the shadows.

The main theme was partially inspired by Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.

Beyond its use in the film, the score is often cited as an influence on various electronic and hip hop artists with its main title theme being sampled by artists including Afrika Bambaataa, I-F, Dead Prez and Bomb the Bass, whose song "Megablast" featured a sample of the score and was used in the soundtrack to the video game Xenon 2 Megablast. A new cover of the theme called "Precinct 13" was released by Tape Recording Club in November 2006.[citation needed] UK punk band The Exploited also utilized the main theme as a bass riff in the song "Don't Blame Me", which appears on their 1996 album Beat the Bastards.

Despite this influence, except for a few compilation appearances, the film's score remained available only in bootleg form until 2003 when it was given an official release through the French label, Record Makers

p.s. I got my man John Carpenter to autograph my VHS version of this film when he did a signing in Bowling Green around 1999! Woo ha Woo ha, got y all in check!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Do You Feel Like This Sometimes?

About Me

I am a graduate of Western Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting. I live in Frankfort with my wife Nichole, our dog Eli, and our cat Sophie. I do drawings.
send me an email
brandon.harrod@gmail.com